Halo: Reach Act I: Defense of Reach
by coldgravy
Summary: Part One of Two of the Halo: Reach novelization. The Covenant Empire is on the planet Reach, and it is up to SPARTAN Noble Team to help defend the UNSC colony, until an unexpected casualty changes everything.
1. SPARTAN B312

_Reach had finally fallen._

The colony Reach, as seen from space, was total, depressing, hell. Seen from space, what was once a beautiful, heavily-populated landscape was filled with darkness. The surface was just a wispy-yet-thick orange, burned to extreme temperatures beyond imagination. Even the sky and the atmosphere appeared to be on fire.

That was nothing, however, compared to the surface. It looked like a moon-sized volcano had erupted and the magma desecrated everything in it's path. In addition to the terrain itself being soiled, there was all sorts of wreckage. Depending on your location, you could see numerous buildings; what wasn't melted was severely damage, and every square inch was torn up, blown apart and on fire. In addition, there were dozens of destroyed ships from both factions involved in this disastrous conflict, both on the ground and up in space, obliterated fragments from destroyed frigates circled the planet like an asteroid belt. The most relatively intact ship on the was a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Frigate that had crashed at the base of a two-peaked mountain.

And lying in the dust near this ship, was a beaten-up, cracked helmet...

_July 24, 2552_

SPARTAN supersoldier B312 sat in the sideseat of his M12 FAV transport, looking into his helmet, which he was holding. He wore an EVA helmet; first issued to him back when he was a starfighter pilot, and it had a beautiful, shiny silver visor, which he modified himself. After he finished cleaning his helmet, he put it back on, and as the Warthog transporting him neared it's destination, he looked around outside. Of course there were still the two UH-144 Falcon helicopters that were escorting them, and looking around, he noticed that this area was cloudy, wet, grassy, lush and mountainous-he knew he was almost to the base.

When the Falcons landed and the Warthog reached the base, B312 hopped out, and the Warthog drove to it's next destination. As B312 walked to the command building; unknown to him, another SPARTAN, clad in dark green armor sat in one of the nearby Falcon's seats, inserting high-caliber rounds into a magazine, while watching B312 with interest.

When B312 made it to the command building, the sliding doors opened, and he took a survey of everyone else in the room; all were SPARTAN IIIs like himself. The first one that caught his eye was a steel-and-brick colored SPARTAN, who was sharpening a curved kukri knife against his big, Security shoulder plate. He was wearing an EVA helmet, but unlike B312's, it had a different attachment, plus there was a skull design scratched onto the visor, presumably carved with his kukri. The carving SPARTAN looked up, and he and B312 made eye contact, but then a robotic arm suddenly moved in front of B312, which startled him greatly. The owner was a smaller, young woman, probably in her mid-to-late 20's, with short black hair and light blue armor.

"Commander", the woman stated, and two other SPARTANs turned around from their computer station. One wore a lot of armor from the "Commando" variant, had dark blue and grey armor, and was the same height as B312. Right away he knew that this guy was the leader of the group. The other SPARTAN, however was **huge**, and not because of his large armor. He was very tall and muscular; heck, he must've been a SPARTAN-II! He had an impressive mustache and stubble, and was a bit darker skinned than the commander and the robotic-armed woman.

"So that's our new #6...", the SPARTAN-II said. At first B312 couldn't for the life of him figure out what that meant, but then he remembered: he was now part of SPARTAN Noble Team, one of the UNSC's most elite, amazing special-operations group. So this meant that not only is his new callsign "Noble 6", but it was alright; catchy, easy to remember.

Then the other EVA SPARTAN spoke up, this time to the woman. "Kat; you read his file?" Well, at least Noble 6 knew one of these guys' names. Kat replied. "Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink." Ignoring the current conversation, the commander turned back to his screen, continuing his mission briefing with the leader of Noble Team, the UNSC Army Colonel Urban Holland. "...Anyone claim responsibility sir?"

"ONI believes it might be the local Insurrection. 5 months ago they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears and stole two freighters from a dry dock. That cannot happen here; Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online Noble 1." "Sir, consider it done", the SPARTAN replied. "Then I'll see you on the other side; Holland out."

After the conference ended, the SPARTAN turned to face Noble 6. "Lieutenant..." "Commander. Sir!" The SPARTAN then introduced himself: "I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader." Looking towards the rest of the group, who were standing up, he said, "That's Kat, Noble 2, Emile and Jorge; 4 and 5." Hm. Interesting, cool, unique names; they definitely match the striking, amazing armor. Carter continued. "You're riding with me, Noble 6."

As the team walked out the door to the Falcons, Carter resumed. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant; you're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. Me, I'm just glad to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one more thing: I've seen your file. Even the parts that the ONI sensors didn't want me to. That 'lone-wolf' stuff stays behind. Clear?" "Got it sir!" The green SPARTAN, who had introduced himself as "Jun", was sitting next to 6.

"Welcome to Reach..." Jun remarked.


	2. Why aren't we seeing explosives residue?

As the two Falcons approached their destination, Carter made an announcement to the rest of Noble Team. "Listen up Noble Team; we're looking at a downed relay outpost fifty klicks from Visegrad. We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, and then Kat's gonna get it back online."

"Just get me under the hood Commander...", Kat casually replied. Then Jorge spoke up. "Sir, why would rebels cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?" Not having a response, Carter just jokingly replied. "Maybe you can ask 'em Jorge."

After the two Falcons flew for a couple minutes, Kat suddenly had bad news. "Commander, we just lost our signal with HQ." "Backup channels?" Kat searched for a few seconds, but to no avail. "N'ada. Can't say what's jamming us." Carter replied. "You heard her, dead zone confirmed. Command will **not **be keeping us company this trip."

"I'm lonely already", Emile muttered over comms.

The Falcons turned the corner, and the SPARTANs all got a good look of the area that they were traversing. Of course the most recognizable and noticable landmark was the Visegrad Relay outpost, their primary objective, but for some reason, it hadn't been burned to the ground, but apparently, a lot else had. Visegrad was a rural area, with a lot of farms, houses and hydroelectric power plants, and in the small valley where the Falcons were hovering, there was a large amount of smoke coming from a damaged building nearby, but of instant notice was a destroyed, flame-engulfed M12 LRV by a small structure. Keeping note that the attacker might still be in the vicinity, Carter contacted the pilot. "Shoot down attempts are likely, so keep your distance!" The pilot obeyed, and as the Falcons touched down at the top of the hill, Carter's next order was to Jun, ordering him to stay aboard the Falcon to serve as a lookout, to which Jun agreed.

When the Falcons landed, Carter, Emile, Kat and Noble 6 hopped out. "Alright Noble Team, split up! Watch the approach!" Carter ordered. As 6 moved down the hill, he swore he caught a glimpse of something invisible moving, but he shook his head and assured himself it was just from the altitude pressure change. When the SPARTANs reached the crashed Warthog, Emile noticed something buried under a broken pallet: it was a distress beacon. "Found the beacon", he declared, and tossed it over his shoulder to Kat, who grabbed it instantly. "Make out any I.D?", Carter asked. "Negative, but it's military", Kat replied.

"So where are the troopers...", Jorge asked.

At first 6 was puzzled for some reason, but then he remembered that Colonel Holland had sent an Army fireteam the previous night to investigate, but they were declared MIA, so Noble Team was sent as the second recovery team, and Noble 6 had arrived right before the rest of Noble Team deployed. "Why are we not seeing any explosives residue?", Kat asked out of fear and confusion. Carter then radioed Jun. "Noble 3, can you confirm any 'ex residue in the area?" Jun did a scan; but with unsuccessful results. "Plasma maybe", Emile commented. That word sent a shiver up Noble 6's spine. If it were plasma, that could only mean one thing: the Covenant Empire was on Reach.

The Covenant, as they referred to themselves, were an assembly of numerous alien species under the leadership of the San 'Shyuum, aka the "Prophets", which were able to translate ancient, high-tech artifacts and weapon arrays left behind by a long gone, advanced race. The Covenant saw humans as "heretics", or non-believers to their religions, and swore to terminate humanity right down to their last DNA strand. Although the UNSC had powerful soldiers, refined and refitted weapons and a sizable fleet, they were no match for the Covenant, which had a fleet 3 times the size of the UNSC's fleet, and the Covenant had billions of infantry from about half a dozen races. Whenever the Covenant found a UNSC colony, 19 times out of 20 it would be fallen, and if the UNSC **did** manage to drive off the Covenant, they would already have suffered massive military and civilian casualties, and every now and then, the Covenant would come back and finish the job they started; such as when they attacked the colony Arcadia in 2531, and then returned a couple years later.

After the SPARTANs looked around the crashsite, they moved on towards the smoke on the other side of the valley. The gate was locked, so they went around, near the cliffside. Suddenly Noble 6 got the surprise of his life: he heard a wailing noise, but not from a human; it sounded more like a bird, or maybe a dinosaur. That's when two large, ostrich-like birds came running past them; obviously spooked by something. After his initial shock, 6 was able to get a good look at them, and knew what they were. Although they didn't have a official scientific name, they were known as Moa, named after the similar, extinct Earth bird with the same name. They were just animals, and they weren't a threat to the team, so the SPARTANs trekked on.

Reaching the ledge and walking on the pathway parallel to it, the SPARTANs reached the backside of the smoking building that they saw earlier. It was relatively intact, but it was pitch black. "Noble 6, move into the house; I'm right behind you", Carter ordered. 6's helmet, like other SPARTAN helmets, had night vision, so he turned that on. Expecting an ambush, Noble 6 also reached over his shoulder and armed himself with his MA37 assault rifle. Luckily, there weren't any enemies in the compound, so 6 moved out into the courtyard, where Jorge's Falcon had landed to drop him off. A door opened, and out stepped a anxious farmer. There were also 6 or 7 others huddled nervously in the building. Upon seeing the farmer, Emile yelled for the man to drop to his knees while taking aim with his M45 shotgun. Jorge stopped Emile, explaining that the man wasn't a rebel; he was just an average farmer. At Carter's request, Jorge got into a conversation with the man, but Noble 6 couldn't understand the dialogue because the two were speaking in Hungarian. What 6 **could **decipher was "...he heard screams, gunfire...stopped around sunrise...says something in the fields...killed his son..."

"Some**thing**..."


	3. Goddammit! Covenant!

As Jorge finished interrogating the farmer, Jun radioed in to Carter. "Boss, I'm reading heat signatures in that structure directly east of your position. Over!" "Noble Team, double-time it!", Carter ordered, "Get them back inside!" Jorge yelled something in Hungarian, and the farmers instantly ran into the house, shutting the door behind them. Noble Team sprinted towards the structure, but when they got inside, it wasn't a pretty picture. "Damn...", Carter uttered. When Noble 6 arrived, he saw what the Commander was talking about: there were a bunch of dead people lying in a pool of blood. There were about 4 or 5 dead civilians, but there were two UNSC Army troopers; no doubt from 3 Charlie. "Fill me in Commander; what are you seeing, over?", Jun asked. Carter replied almost instantly. "We've got casualties, two of the missing troopers. It looks like they were interrogated; i-it's messy."

The brief period of silence was suddenly broken by the quick sound of running feet on the metal roof. It caught a red blimp on their integrated HUD motion trackers, and it was fast. "What the hell was that?", a surprised Emile snapped. Not knowing either, Carter contacted Jun. "Negative sir; thermal's clean", Jun answered. Noble Team took a 360° look around them before moving into the next house.

The next exclamation from a panicked Jun freaked everyone out. "Boss, I see movement! Outside your structure!" Carter locked down. "Noble Two, move up to the west; we're about to get flanked!" "Goddammit!", Emile shouted upon seeing what the others were nervous about, and then Jorge found out.

"Covenant!"

After Noble 6 pulled himself together, he looked, and on top of a roof stood a large birdlike creature, but this wasn't as friendly or cute as the Moa they saw earlier: it was a Covenant Skirmisher, which was a genetic cousin of the more common, smaller Jackal; both belonging to the Kig-Yar race, which were known as bird-like pirates, and were the first type of Covenant to encounter humans. "Heck", 6 thought, "You call that a bird? It's practically a _Velociraptor_!"

The Skirmisher let out a battle cry, and sprinting up the hill came 4 other Skirmishers, and at least a dozen Covenant Unggoy, known to both humans and the other Covenant as "Grunts" came walking out of one of the nearby sheds. Instantly they started firing at the SPARTANs. While Carter and Kat kept the Covenant distracted, Carter ordered Jorge, Noble 6 and Emile to move down into the basement, and retake the yard. After 6 and Emile chucked a couple of grenades at the initial group of Skirmishers, the two backed up and Jorge killed the remaining Covenant in the basement with his minigun turret, while Carter picked off the remainders with his M392 DMR.

Suddenly one of the other pilots radioed in to Jun's Falcon, "Banshees! Heads up Charlie 1!" Noble 6 looked up and saw the two Covenant Banshee fighters firing their plasma guns at the Falcon. The Falcon dodged the incoming fire and opened fire with it's chin mounted chaingun, which tore the Banshees apart within seconds.

As the SPARTANs moved down into the valley, through the stream, a 'y'-shaped shadow passed over to them and landed 15 yards ahead of them. It was a Spirit Dropship; not built as an assault craft but as a troop transport, but was armed with a powerful turret, so the SPARTANs moved out of it's way, and while Jun kept the Spirit's attention on his Falcon, the rest of Noble Team killed it's passengers, before moving towards the nearby hayfield. There were more of the Moa birds here, about 4 of them grazing, but their meal turned into a panic as a larger team of Covenant charged from the canyon nearby, opening fire on the SPARTANs but receiving plenty too. The assault was lead by 4 Sangheili Ultras, known to humans as "Elites", and their nickname fits perfectly: the saurian Elites are one of the highest ranked Covenant that are extremely large, skilled and dangerous, and are usually in command of all Covenant ground and space operations. After the SPARTANs had eliminated all hostiles, Carter spoke up. "Stand down Noble, stand down. Contacts neutralized."

"Contacts?", an outraged Jorge spoke, "It's the damn Covenant!"

"Cheer up big man...", Emile slyly replied, "This old valley just got turned into a free fire zone."


	4. We've been engaged!

Now for Noble Team, this situation turned from dangerous to downright hellish. The Covenant were on the UNSC's largest military and civilian hub, and the most important relay station on the continent had been disabled. "Kat, we've gotta warn Holland. I need you at that relay outpost now!", Carter ordered. Kat contacted Jun, and within the next minute, Jun's escort had landed, and Emile climbed aboard to aid Kat.

After the Falcon took off towards the relay outpost, Jorge,Carter and Noble 6 moved down, and by a dead farmer was a abandoned farm vehicle. Apparently some sort of pickup truck or flatbed. "Get to work Noble!", Carter commanded, and as 6 hopped behind the wheel, Jorge hopped onto the back and mounted his machinegun turret, so the three SPARTANs had practically transformed a weaponless, worthless pickup truck into a make-shift Warthog.

After a 10 minute reconnaissance drive around, including a scenic drive alongside a large herd of Moa and running over a Skirmisher that was dumb enough to get in their way, Jun contacted Carter with important news. "Boss, I'm picking up a distress signal." A new voice was heard over comms. "Mayday, 3 Charlie 6, does anyone read? We were attacked by Covenant forces, the Covenant are on Reach; I repeat, the Covenant are on Reach." Not wanting to lose the troopers, Carter ordered 6 to hurry and find the distress signal. "No disrespect...", Jun asked, "But don't we have more important things to do than round up strays?" "We don't leave people behind", Carter declared, "You see those troopers, you let me know."

As the SPARTANs turned the corner, they spotted three UNSC Army troopers in cover behind another wrecked Warthog and a Spirit firing at them while dropping off a large team of Elites, Grunts and Jackals. 6 slammed his foot on the gas, and the truck raced towards the largest cluster of Covenant. The three SPARTANs leaped out of the truck and it skidded 20 feet, plowing through a dozen Grunts and an Elite Minor before hitting a tree head on and exploding. The Spirit had pulled back to deliver reinforcements, and after the SPARTANs and UNSC troopers had eliminated the remaining Covenant, everyone regrouped at the top of the hill. "SPARTANs, Corporal Travis sir, 3 Charlie. It's the Covenant", the troopers' shell-shocked leader said. "We know Corporal, let's get you outta here", Carter calmly replied.

The Spirit then returned, and this time, there were two of them, and when they dropped off the reinforcements, the battle resumed. After a short engagement, Carter radioed Jun, and Jun ordered the other Falcon to land and pick up the surviving UNSC Army troopers. Travis and another soldier had survived, but unfortunately, PFC. Gundell, who had also been fighting with Travis, had been repeatedly shot in the head with Covenant plasma rifles and died as a result. After the troopers had been transported to safety, Jun landed and Jorge, Carter and 6 hopped aboard to be redeployed to Visegrad Relay to aid Kat and Emile, who were suppressed by the Covenant.

"Drop us in the courtyard", Carter ordered. "Uh...LZ's a little hot sir...", the nervous pilot replied. "Put her down pilot! 6, break's over!", Carter commanded sharply. Jorge, Carter and 6 hopped out and with two lucky grenade throws, Noble 6 killed some 16 Jackals and cleared a path to Kat and Emile's position. After a quick sit-rep between Kat and Carter, Emile announced that there were Covenant inbound. Because 6's MA37 was out of ammo, 6 picked up a DMR found near a dead body and began to pick off Covenant in the doorway with Carter, while Jorge and Emile advanced on the enemy positions as a counterattack.

After 3 minutes of heavy bloodshed, Kat had finished hacking the door controls, and ordered everyone inside. Nobody was about to complain, as the Covenant were deploying more and more troops, including a fearsome, high-ranked Elite General armed with an Energy Sword, a deadly plasma blade capable of slicing through anything organic. In addition, more Banshee fighters started bombing the courtyard. When everyone was inside, Kat started to shut the door, and right as it closed, a lucky grenade from 6 killed 7 Grunts.

While Emile remained near the entrance as a sentry, the rest of the SPARTANs moved into the base. Of interest was a dead body in the middle of the floor: it wasn't a soldier, but rather a scientist; from the looks of it, in his sixties. While Kat attempted to tinker with the computer system, 6 examined the corpse and discovered some sort of data pad, which he gave to Kat. Carter was in the corner talking to a badly injured soldier, who had stated that the rest of his team was wiped out.

"I've got a live one over here!", Jorge shouted, and everyone turned to look. Jorge's discovery was of an unharmed civilian girl who was hiding beneath some nearby stairs. Jorge tried desperately to calm her down, but she kept struggling and yelling in Hungarian while throwing punches. Jorge then dropped his chaingun and firmly grabbed her arms. "Keep still, and I'll release you." The woman said something in Hungarian with a fearful tone, while looking up behind Jorge.

Suddenly everyone in the room was caught by surprise when a massive, crimson-armored Elite Field Marshall with an Energy Sword jumped down from a maintenance shaft, backed up by two Elite Zealots, who were also a threat to be reckoned with. Jorge evaded the initial strike and moved to get the woman to safety. "What's your status, over!" Emile shouted over comms. "WE'VE BEEN ENGAGED!", Carter yelled, and everybody opened fire with their assault rifles. The Field Marshall attempted a sword lunge at Kat, but Carter dived to the floor, pulling Kat to safety with him. The Field Marshall turned to face Noble 6, and shoved the SPARTAN onto the ground before dashing for the exit. "Emile, bad guy comin' out!", Carter yelled, to give his fellow SPARTAN a heads-up. As the Field Marshall sprinted down the hallway that lead to the courtyard, Emile crouched and took aim. He fired, and the shotgun blast hit the Field Marshall, but it's energy shields were too strong. The Field Marshall laughed at Emile's effort, before giving him a kick in the stomach, which threw him against a glass screen, shattering it. Emile got back up and pulled out his kukri, but the Field Marshall had already cut through the door and was sprinting across the courtyard.

Back inside the outpost, Noble 6 had gotten up, but a Zealot grabbed him by the neck, preparing to stab the SPARTAN in the side of the head, but thinking quickly, 6 threw a strong punch to the side of the face, breaking two of the monster's jaw mandibles. The furious Elite roared in 6's face, before Carter intervened, shoving the beast to the ground, while Kat fired at it with her M6G pistol. The Elite scooted a few feet away and then scrambled back onto it's feet and to another Zealot, who was backing towards the storage room door opposite to the entrance/exit. On their way out, one of the Zealots snatched the wounded Army trooper, using him as both a hostage and a human shield. The frightened soldier desperately grabbed the door frame, but the Elite was too strong, and pulled him out of sight. Emile then contacted Carter. "That tango blew past me. Permission to pursue!" "Negative Noble 4, stay on the entrance! 2, handle the girl! 5 and 6, clear the hole!" Jorge picked up his machinegun turret and 6 loaded his assault rifle, and when the two were in the other room, Jorge impressed 6 once again with his strength, by manually closing the door.

There were more than just Zealots in the other room, however. The Zealot strike team had brought in a small platoon of Grunts and Jackals, which were all over the storage room. Thinking quickly, 6 pulled out his pistol and repeatedly shot at the three nearby fuel tanks, which detonated. The explosion incinerated the Grunts and Jackals, and one of the Zealots, who had it's shields cracked from the explosion, took a single pistol headshot and dropped to the ground in a pool of blood, dead.

After clearing out another group of Grunts, the two SPARTANs wound up in the generator room. Jorge agreed to stay up on the balcony and give Noble 6 covering fire, while the Lieutenant snuck around to flank the Covenant. After the smaller Covvies were eliminated, there was still a remaining Zealot, who still had the wounded trooper hostage, and was trying to hack into the computer system. Unfortunately, the Zealot spotted Noble 6, and right before 6 gunned it down, the Zealot turned around with it's Energy Sword and shoved it right through the wounded soldier's face, killing him. 6 felt a quick, upsetting moment of sadness, and avenged the soldier by throwing his combat knife across the room with amazing accuracy and slitting open the Zealot's neck. The behemoth gargled and gasped for air before dropping to the floor dead, eyes rolled back. 6 picked up his bloodied knife and put it into it's sheath, before reuniting with Jorge and regrouping back up at the control room.

The civilian woman was extremely shaken up by the traumatic events that had just occurred, and was huddled in the corner. Carter and Kat were conversing about how long it would take to bring the relay back online, and Emile had joined the others in the control room, but he was just loitering around. Upon seeing Jorge return, Carter asked Jorge to find out about the girl. Jorge got down on the ground and started to engage her in conversation. "What's your name? Do you live around here?" The girl didn't reply; upon seeing and hearing this conversation, Emile chuckled out of amusement. Trying a more direct, human approach, Jorge took off his helmet. "_I nevem Jorge_", he said. Again, it was in Hungarian, so Noble 6 and Emile couldn't understand what was actually being said, but 6 knew that Jorge was just introducing himself. The girl finally replied. "Sára", she said, but not making eye contact. Jorge continued to speak. "Sára... Szép határozott név. Your accent sounds familiar. Sopron?" Minus the English, Nobles 4 and 6 could not at all decipher what the two were saying. "Tengeri", Sára said quietly.

The conversation turned to the dead scientist's body. "Friend of yours?", Jorge asked. "Father." Of course, sociopathic Emile didn't care more or less that a young woman's dad was butchered by Elites, but Noble 6 did feel a bit emotionally disturbed, and his EVA helmet being on was the only thing that hid his tear. "Sajnálom, I'm sorry", Jorge said to comfort the girl. "Why would you be?", she snapped back.

Emile let out a short, quiet, sadistic laugh and turned to 6. "Big man forgets what he is sometimes." Jorge, outraged by Emile's self-centered behavior turned to confront him. "_She just lost her father_", he quietly growled to Emile. Jorge then moved over to Carter. "She needs a full psychiatric workup", Jorge told his boss. Emile rudely interjected. "She's not the only one!" Jorge gave Emile a fierce glare, but Carter yelled at the two, before stating that the body would stay at the relay outpost.

Kat spoke up. "Signal! Patchy, but it's there!" "I'll take it", Carter replied. "Best not touch anything", said Kat, "You wouldn't wanna ground this place". Kat, Sára, Emile, Jorge and Noble 6 left the room while Carter contacted Colonel Holland.

"...What's your status, over?", a worried Holland asked.

"Colonel, this is Noble 1. There are no rebels, I repeat, there are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach."

"Come again Noble 1: did you say **Covenant**?"

"Yes sir. It's the Winter Contingency."

"May God help us all..."


	5. Playing Defense

_**July 26, 2552**_

__Two days after securing Visegrad Relay, Noble Team was to be deployed into battle again, and this time, Noble 6 knew where they were going: located near the Babd Catha Ice Shelf was the Office of Naval Intelligence facility "Sword Base". Without a doubt it was under Covenant siege, and the other UNSC forces deployed to secure the base and halt the Covenant were mowed down or WIA: the first line of defense was of a squad of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODSTs, led by SPARTANs Kathleen-113 and Ponds-9815; all but one of the ODSTs were killed, Kathleen-113 suffered bad plasma burns to the shoulder, stomach, rear and chest, and Ponds-9815 had broken his pelvis trying to get Kathleen out of the way of an angry Mgalekgolo, or "Hunter"; which were large, living suits of armor controlled by colonies of tiny Lekgolo worms.

The second, and most recent line of defense was a battalion of regular UNSC Army troopers that had deployed to the courtyard. Unfortunately, even though the UNSC troopers had superior numbers, the Covenant had them completely outgunned and cornered. After seeing how well Noble Team performed during the Visegrad mission, ONI requested for Noble Team to deploy, retake the base and it's exterior outposts and drive off a Corvette-class Covenant ship that was providing air-to-ground plasma bombardment and reinforcements.

Sword Control, Sword Base's air support, then contacted Noble Team. "Be advised Kilo-33 and Kilo-34, your current LZ is too hot!" Carter responded. "Roger that. Dot, stand by to receive and respond."

The Artificial Intelligence, or AI, Auntie Dot, sometimes referred to as just simply "Dot", was the AI who served with Noble Team by keeping them connected with UNSC Command and when they split up for certain mission types, such as reconnaissance, the rest of Noble Team. Dot was, like most AIs, considered a "dumb" AI; even though an Artificial Intelligence knows a lot, they only have an average IQ of 240, which doesn't exceed human intelligence that high. Another thing that made Dot unique is that, unlike other AIs, such as Serina of the _Spirit of Fire _or Cortana of the _Pillar of Autumn_, she never created a holographic avatar for herself, so on computer screens, she was represented by a interchanging pattern of flashing blue lights. Another thing that set Dot apart is that she had a British accent, but it sounded more computerized that other AIs. Still, Dot got the job done, and done right.

After being briefed by Dot on the status of Sword Base, Carter declared that the team's first objective, instead of directly attacking the Corvette, that they would need to retake the courtyard, rally all the surviving troops, and bring two important facilities back up to speed: Farragut Station on the shoreline, which housed a hidden, but working, communications array to quickly spread word of the Covenant attack, and on the cliffside overlooking the landing strip and airbase, was Airview Base, which in addition to being a resupply bunker, was also home to a powerful, high-caliber anti-air cannon which was in close enough proximity to the Corvette to where it could both damage the Corvette itself and the numerous fighters, bombers and dropships that were launching from it. As the Falcons neared the courtyard, Carter declared the order of deployment; and as they neared the ground, Kat and Noble 6 loaded their weapons, and on Carter's command, Noble 6 and Kat leaped out of the Falcon, and charged towards the UNSC troopers.

The fighting was pretty brutal for Army Sgt. Parks, the leader of the Army division deployed to the courtyard; at least 8 of his men were dead or severely wounded, but when he spotted a DMR shot penetrate 4 Grunts, he turned to see two SPARTANs attacking the Covenant, and not only did it boost the sergeant's morale, but it also boosted his troopers', too. Noble 6 and Kat charged forward; Kat using her assault rifle, while Noble 6 had picked up dual M6Gs, and firing with extreme precision and speed: by the time Noble 6 had popped the eight Grunt that was firing at him, the first one had just hit the ground, and whatever managed to survive 6's wrath was executed by Kat. "Well, his reputation as a 'hyper-lethal vector' precedes him", Kat muttered to herself as she passed through the thick, bloody mass of dead Elites, Grunts, Skirmishers and Jackals. After Noble 6 had terminated the miniature army of Covenant, Kat radioed back to Sword Control, confirming that the courtyard had been retaken. "Head through the main gates to the east; I'll brief you as you go", the commander replied. As Nobles 2 and 6 passed through the lower garage, there were resupply cases, but one contained something powerful: a H-165 FOM target locator.

A target locator had a few different uses, but the primary function was to designate targets for orbital bombardment: holding the locator, the operator squeezes the trigger while an emitted laser beam tracks the target; when it's fully registered, the readings are received by orbital satellites, and bombard the target with a barrage of rockets and bombs. And this WMD was now in the hands of Noble 6, who is known for "making entire militia groups disappear".


	6. Minimum Safe Distance

After Sword Control confirmed that there was available air support, Noble 6, Kat and a few of the UNSC Army soldiers moved outside, and another user appeared on comms. "3 Echo 57 heading back to base; we've got enemy tangos on our six; hard copy!". The troopers heard over comms appeared, in a badly damaged, flaming M381 Troop Transport Warthog, driving up from the beach while being pursued by a Covenant Wraith hovertank. A Wraith was large, fast, could easily splatter someone, and had two weapons: a large plasma mortar fired by the pilot, and a gunner seat armed with dual plasma cannons. And as if one Wraith wasn't bad enough, an anonymous plasma mortar fired and destroyed the Warthog and it's crew, and then a second Wraith turned the corner. 6 took aim with the target locator.

"_Affirmative. We're going to shoot, over_."

That's when a large bombardment was seen over the two Wraiths, which were instantly destroyed and reduced to scrap metal. After Noble 6 popped a couple of Grunts and an Elite with his DMR, Kat praised 6 for his job well done, and a shadow passed over the SPARTANs, but this time it was a friendly: a D77-TC Pelican gunship that was stationed at Sword Base, Noble 48. The Pelican was armed with an M638 Autocannon and was delivering a fresh, new M12 LRV Warthog. Sword Control had requested Noble Team to re-activate the two important facilities; Airview Base and Farragut Station, and dropped off a Warthog to give the two SPARTANs additional mobile firepower.

The SPARTANs headed to Airview first; activating the AA gun could halt all Covenant troop deployments. Up on the hill overlooking Airview Base, however, the SPARTANs could see that the Covenant didn't exactly want the AA gun online. A large group of Grunts and a team of Elite Rangers were lead by an Elite Ultra armed with a Concussion Rifle; a Covenant-made explosives launcher with high concussive force. In addition, there were two Ghost speeders patrolling and a Phantom dropship, the Covenant's most common and most dangerous troop transport, was hovering around. Noble 6 did some quick thinking with the target locator. Aiming at the two Ghosts, which had stopped and were next to each other, Noble 6 heard a strike confirmation, and then watched as several large, fast missiles blasted the Ghosts apart.

The Covenant, although they couldn't trace Kat and 6's location, were well aware that they were under fire, and the Ultra ordered it's Rangers to search the perimeter. Expecting this and having a plan to correspond, Kat and Noble 6 ordered their UNSC trooper, who was manning the gun, to find someplace to hide...

The 3 Elite Rangers, as promised, did visit the rocky area where Noble 6 and Kat were, but couldn't find them. The leader, distinguished by his golden armor, ordered his other two troops to split up. The leader was at the top of the hill, as previously stated, but was out of sight from the Ultra and the platoon of Grunts. Seizing control of the opportunity, Noble 6, who had been hiding in the shadows of a large outcropping, silently crept down towards the Ranger leader, and when the Elite, out of paranoia, turned around, the last thing he saw was a bloody knife lunging out and stabbing him in the back of the neck, at the base of the skull.

Kat's hiding spot was actually in plain sight, but she had moved the body of a dead trooper, and she was playing dead, while having her pistol by her hand. When one of the Rangers was out of sight, she slowly picked up her gun, then shot the plasma rifle out of the Elite's hand. It turned around, and Kat tackled it to the ground. 6 arrived, tossed Kat his knife, and the Ranger was dead. For the final Ranger, 6 thought it would be fun to show off his strength to Kat and their trooper by running up to the Elite and snapping it's neck.

Now that the SPARTANs had eliminated the major hazards, they got back into the Warthog and lead a direct charge towards the AA gun. The Grunts were no match for the trooper manning the M41 LAAG, and were shredded up. The Ultra fired his Concussion Rifle at the Warthog, but Kat, holding a DMR in the sideseat, took a lucky shot which hit the Elite in the eye. Once the Ultra was dead, 6 hopped out of the vehicle and turned on the gun. The Phantom, which had spotted the Warthog, was about to fire, but the gun locked on and six large, armor-piercing rounds were shot into the cockpit of the Phantom, and as a result, the dropship was destroyed.

After the AA cannon had been activated, 6 hopped back into the Warthog, and after a small engagement with a Spirit and two Ghosts, they had reached the Farragut Station, home to a working communications array, but this surprised Noble 6, because the structure he saw looked to be at least 50 years old: the shanty metal rooftops were all rusted, there was a lot of moss, the floors were wooden, and it was very cold; but then again, it was on the shore of an ice shelf and a frozen lake. As promised, there were quite a bit of Covenant sentries, but of particular importance was a Covenant Revenant, the Covenant's most recently-created ground vehicle.

A Revenant was the Covenant's version of the UNSC Warthog, but the thing that made the Revenant dangerous was that it was a hybrid of a Wraith, the Covenant's slowest but most dangerous vehicle, and the Ghost, which was fast and had mediocre firepower. The Revenant's advantage was that it was large and well armored, it was fast, was able to evade easily, and it had a smaller, but very effective nevertheless plasma mortar, just like a Wraith. A Revenant was also able to carry a man in a passenger seat, like it's M12 FAV Warthog counterpart.

Kat then ordered Noble 6 to go into the first building to turn on the power, leaving the Warthog unguarded. As he came back, he heard someone yell "INCOMING!", and watched as the Revenant zoomed into the side of the Warthog, blowing it up and killing the trooper manning the turret. Once the Warthog was demolished, the Revenant's focus shifted to the two SPARTANs. "Noble 2! Go! I've got you covered!", 6 yelled to Kat. Kat exchanged a nod with 6 and sprinted to the other building, while 6 moved around, firing at the Revenant with his MA37, until the gun jammed. 6 hurled the weapon at the Revenant, and sprinted back to the generator building, where he found a instrument of carnage: a double-barrel M41 SSR rocket launcher with two rockets left. 6 picked up the weapon, and fired both rockets. Unfortunately, the Revenant avoided the first rocket and hit the second, detonating it in mid air. Suddenly, Kat radioed 6. "Lieutenant, the comm array is online, repeat, is online!" Luckily, Noble 48 came to the rescue, firing it's high-caliber gatling gun at the Revenant, which scrapped it within a matter of seconds. The gunship landed, and luckily it had **more** mobile firepower: a new, non-damaged M12 FAV, but instead of a M41 LAAG, it had a M68 ALIM, or Gauss Cannon. Noble 6 yelled "Thank the Lord!" upon seeing this, much to Kat's amusement.

Carter's voice was then heard. "Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader. Get back to Sword Base ASAP." Noble 6, being fairly skilled at operating a Gauss Cannon, insisted that Kat should drive. She agreed, and as they hopped into the vehicle, the Pelican took off, and the two SPARTANs eyed three Phantoms flying towards the yard leading to the gate, but they were carrying Ghosts and Revenants.

"It's armor hunting season...", 6 muttered to himself.

Carter reappeared on comms. "Noble, be advised: Covenant Corvette moving into position. Looking up towards Sword Base, Kat and 6 could see that the Corvette not only advanced on Sword Base, but it was deploying more and more reinforcements and overall delivering a total beating to Sword Base. Rounding the corner, the SPARTANs has arrived at the yard where they had killed the Wraiths. There were at least 5 Revenants and Ghosts, and looking up at the top of the hill, at the gate, Noble 6 saw that the UNSC Army troopers that stayed to guard the entrance had been mowed down. One of the Revenants spotted the M12G LAAV coming up the hill from the beach, and opened fire. The mortar missed, and Noble 6 aimed up his shot with the Gauss Cannon.

_KA-TAAAAAANNNNGGG!_

The Gauss Cannon fired, but it wasn't a rocket or bullet: Gauss Cannons fired hyper-velocity, high-density projectiles that looked like lightning bolts, and for the target, it sure as hell felt like it. Gauss Cannons were designed primarily as anti-air and anti-armor cannons, but were also a one-shot kill on any Covenant troop, providing that the shot hit, of course.

After Kat and Noble 6 wrecked the rest of the Covenant vehicles, Kat drove to the gate, and 6 hopped off the turret and opened the gate. A contact came through comms, this time from Jun. "We're stalled in the tower atrium. Kat, where are you?", he asked; the sound of assault rifles and plasma pistols heard in the background. "Opening the gate now", Kat replied. The doors opened, and coming down the path from the courtyard was a large group of Grunts, Jackals and Elites. Thinking quickly, Noble 6 pulled out the target locator from earlier, and requested one final strike. Luckily, his request was acknowledged, and when all the Covenant were blasted to pieces, 6, who didn't have a rifle of any type on hand, temporarily picked up a Covenant plasma rifle.

Moving into the loading bay, there was a rack of fully-loaded M45 shotguns, so 6 ditched the plasma rifle. It was a good thing that Noble 6 and Kat had arrived, because two Hunters were attacking a pair of Army troopers, who were both badly injured and pinned down. Because the Hunters' focus was on the troopers, Noble 6 was able to sneak around behind the pair of Hunters. 6 blasted the first Hunter's back twice, killing it, and when the other turned around to face the SPARTAN, Noble 6 blasted it right in the head, and orange Lekgolo worm blood splattered all over Noble 6's armor.

After the Hunters were defeated, Kat rejoined 6 at the elevator, and they got in. The troopers went back out into the courtyard, where Noble 48 had arrived to evacuate them and get them medical attention. On the ride up the elevator, a large explosion was heard and felt, shaking the building. "Corvette's hittin' this base **hard**," Emile said, obviously surprised and startled.

The elevator reached it's destination, the security office, which was occupied by an Elite Officer and his squad of Grunts. These enemies were brought down quickly, and after passing through the security checkpoint, a door opened, where Jorge was heard yelling. Kat and 6 moved to assist Jorge, who was being supported by Jun and a fireteam of troopers. While Kat, Jorge and Jun assaulted the large group of Jackals, 6 asked one of the troopers where Emile was.

"Top floor, Lieutenant. There's a breach;Noble 4 went up to secure it!" Carter confirmed this statement by radioing 6, ordering him and Jorge to hurry to the top floor breach to assist Emile, who was trying to drive off the hostile Banshees and Phantoms that were assaulting the position.

Once again, Noble 6 proved his reputation as a "hyper-lethal vector" to be true as he sprinted down the hallway, killing every Covenant in his way with a shotgun, when suddenly another large explosion rumbled and shook, knocking the Lieutenant off of his feet. Emile contacted the rest of the team, needing immediate assistance. Carter implored 6 to keep pushing through. 6 confirmed, and he was back on his feet as a human death machine. When they had reached the top floor, Noble 6 was ambushed by an Elite General, but during the quick struggle, 6 disarmed the General of his Concussion Rifle and turned the tables by blasting the General three times in the waist with the Concussion Rifle. The Elite flew back, breaking it's spine against the wall before being shot in the neck by 6's shotgun.

"About time!", Emile grumbled upon seeing 6 and Jorge. Noble 6 watched as Emile, who was wielding a M41 SSR like the one 6 used earlier, blasted numerous Banshees out of the sky with lock-on rockets. Noble 6 picked up a rocket launcher that he found by a dead trooper, and together with Emile, the two demolitionists grounded a dozen Banshees and a Phantom, which had attempted to deploy dangerous Spec-Op Elites to execute the two SPARTANs. When all fighters were destroyed, Sword Control contacted Noble Team. "Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push, orbital defense is waiting to take the shot."

Emile, who was exhausted from all the combat, tossed his M41 SSR aside and walked inside, while Noble 6 watched the two GA-TL1 Longsword fighters fly over the base towards the Corvette. Because the Corvette was no match for the fighters, it had turned around and fled. When it was over the lake, a good distance from the base, the Longswords veered off, and an orbiting satellite fired a MAC round, which blasted right through the middle of the Corvette, destroying it and making it crash into the lake.

"Beautiful, ain't it? Someone should take a picture", commented Jorge, who came up to 6. "Nice work by the way." "I aim to please", 6 replied in a friendly, boasting manner. Carter interrupted over comms. "5, 6, get down to the science wing. Dr. Halsey wants a debrief and Command's saying we're all hers." Hearing the name "Halsey" suddenly woke up Jorge.

Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey was one of the most important scientists and figures in the UNSC, and was well known and praised for her incredible discoveries within ONI. Halsey's most important and well known work was the entire development of the SPARTAN-II program and the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor used by the SPARTAN-IIs and Noble Team. Halsey and a few other ONI agents handpicked their SPARTAN-II candidates, picking the best of the best. Noble 6 had never personally met Halsey, but he had heard of her, so he knew who she was. Jorge was very taken by surprise upon hearing this news, asking for clarification.

"I _**did**_", Carter replied back, obviously annoyed by the delay.

"Copy that, on our way", Jorge replied Carter. Turning to 6, he said, "Don't need Command to tell me, I've been all hers half my life."


	7. Gone Dark

As Nobles 5 and 6 walked into the room, Kat, Jun and Emile were standing in the corner, and Dr. Halsey was already conversing with Carter. "...I do not need a report of events that occur on my own doorstep. What I **do **need is a detailed account of your previous engagement... Jorge. It's been too long." "Ma'am", Jorge replied in a formal, respectful tone. "What have you** done** with my armor?", she asked. Noble 6 turned to look at him. "Just some, uh, _additions_ I've made", Jorge stated. "Indeed", Halsey replied, and by the sound of her voice, 6 could tell that Halsey was happy to see Jorge. Halsey resumed talking to Carter. "Visegrad Relay; it's data center was home to one of my xenoarchaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad; perhaps you could shed some light on his death?"

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-60's, then he died with a Covenant energy sword through his abdomen", Carter flatly answered. "Elites then," Halsey stated. Jorge then spoke up, but was cut off. "They engaged us as well. It was, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am, she was hiding in the-". "Irrelevant", Halsey interjected, "The Elites, tell me more about them." "Three. Zealot-class. One got by us, the leader, from the looks of it." Halsey was thrown off guard by this. Elite Zealots were never to be underestimated. "Zealots. You're certain?" "Armor configuration matched", Jorge replied. "Shield strength too", 6 chimed in, remembering how difficult it was to kill the Zealots.

"I gave the order not to pursue", Carter interrupted, "Our primary objective was to get the station back online-" "Your primary objective? Commander, are you a puppet or a SPARTAN?", Halsey snapped. "Ma'am?", Carter asked in confusion. "There are those at ONI, myself included", Halsey explained, "That believe the Covenant deploy Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams as small, nimble and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away."

"Data retrieval was not a command directive," Carter replied, "Even had we known, we had other, more important matters to attend to." "Like warning the planet", Kat commented. Halsey stared at her for a brief moment before continuing. "Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a 'latchkey' discovery. 'Latchkey'... not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander _**stole**_ contains it", Halsey growled at Kat. Carter turned to confront Kat.

"Before you ask," Halsey continued, "I was alerted the moment you attempted to access it's contents, as I am with any unauthorized tap. I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work!" "Maybe you'd like to join her," Carter commented. "I'm sorry?" Halsey questioned. "We're currently under planetary directive Winter Contingency; I'm sure you know the punishment for civilian interference with a SPARTAN deployment." "Are you _threatening _me, Commander?", Halsey asked, quietly-yet-angrily. "Just making a reading suggestion ma'am." Carter started to head out the door. "Let's move, Noble Team," he ordered.

On his way out, Jorge turned to look at Halsey. "Ma'am?", he asked. "That...will be all, Jorge," she replied.

_**August 11, 2552**_

The Viery Territory at night was one of the darkest and spookiest areas on Reach. This region was known for a lot of things, including farms, hydroelectric plants and mines. Two weeks ago, this area had a sizable population, but when the Covenant had arrived, contact was lost. The UNSC had deployed UAVs to try and see what the Covenant were hiding, but they never received feedback for some reason, which made everyone suspicious and nervous.

A Covenant Phantom slowly patrolled the area. It's usual chin-mounted cannon was replaced with a searchlight. As the Phantom passed along a small ledge, the searchlight scanned the cliff for signs of movement, but there were no hostiles, so the dropship moved on.

Unknown by the patrol, there actually _were_ hostiles. After the Covenant craft moved out of sight, SPARTAN Jun-A266 stood up, his blackish silhouette standing out in the moonlight. He gave a nod, and another SPARTAN stood up, Noble 6. Noble 6 carefully walked across the narrow ledge to Jun's position, carefully watching his footing. Looking down, 6 could see that if he made one wrong move, he would have at least a 160-foot fall to his death in the river below. When 6 had crossed the cliff face to his fellow SPARTAN's position, Jun contacted Kat, who was leading the operation. "Recon Team Bravo reporting in, 3 and 6 in position. It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat." "Then we're closing in," she replied, "Report any Covenant structures or devices; direct action may be necessary."

Because the UNSC's electronic surveillance systems couldn't break through the Covenant "dark zone", the UNSC assembled a few small, elite reconnaissance teams to go where electronics couldn't: directly into the dark zone to see just what the Covenant were up to and why it was so well defended. Because Carter was busy with UNSC Command, Kat was in charge of the recon operation, codenamed Operation: NIGHTFALL.

When Jun and 6 were at the top of the ledge, overlooking a large expanse of cliffside, Jun commented on how "when Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary", before handing 6 something. "Here, you may need these," Jun explained, "high-velocity, armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at 2,000 yards. And they ain't cheap." In order to give 6 cover and to scout the area ahead, Jun climbed up onto a boulder. "I'll be in touch", he muttered to 6, and when Jun was out of sight, 6 hopped down, sliding down to the large cliffside.

As Kat and Jun discussed about the dark zone, 6 walked across a narrow cliffside pathway, but when he saw a large, moving shadow, he ducked behind a rock. It was an Elite Officer, who was serving as a lookout. Nearby, the Grunt squad under it's command were sleeping like logs. Luckily, the Elite hadn't spotted Noble 6, so 6 pulled out his knife, sneaking up on the unwary saurian. Just as the Elite began to sense 6, lightening struck, and in the bright, sudden light, the last thing the Elite saw was a knife go through it's eye.

"Not bad...", Jun commented to 6 over comms.


	8. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

The two SPARTANs rendezvoused at the top of a hill which was overlooking an abandoned settlement. The settlement was crawling with Covenant: a large amount of Grunts and Jackals, two Elite Rangers, and an Elite Ultra as a sentry. Noble 6 went prone, aiming his SRS-99 sniper rifle at the Ultra, and firing. The second the round hit the Ultra, it was dead before it could even blink. After Jun and 6 eliminated the other Elites, a Phantom hovered in, deploying more Covenant troops. The Covenant had spotted the SPARTANs and began their attack on Jun and Noble 6. Thinking quickly, while 6 engaged the Covenant with his assault rifle, Jun eyed a gasoline tank next to a large squad of Grunts. Jun fired his sniper rifle and the tank exploded, incinerating any Covenant within a 10-foot radius. After the platoon of Covenant had been wiped out, Jun and 6 decided it was best to leave the village and keep moving, as the Covenant not only had their position, but it had them outnumbered 10 to 1, so if they stayed they were sitting ducks.

Jun and 6 went through a small garage and through a building to another complex. Unfortunately, there were Covenant here as well, but the good news was that there were way less: only an Elite Minor, a Jackal with a needle rifle -the Covenant equivalent of the UNSC's DMR- and a pair of Grunts. The Jackal was out of sight of the other Covenant, up on a rooftop, so Jun fired and pierced the Jackal's throat. Unfortunately the corpse fell off of the building, landing in front of the Grunts, which sent them into a panic. The Elite was rather angered by the Grunt's cowardliness, and while he physically abused his troops, Noble 6 fired a shot at a forklift which was behind the Grunts. The forklift blew up, and the explosion launched the body of the forklift into the air, which crushed the trio of aliens.

After Jun and Noble 6 eliminated the Covenant, they continued up a dry trail, but heard a scream from a Grunt, followed by the loud, ferocious roar of something else. Not Covenant and sure as hell not human. It was a wild animal.

The two SPARTANs, armed with assault rifles, cautiously moved forward, ready in case the beast attacked them. When they turned the corner, there was a large clearing with a lot of activity. A Phantom was overhead, but although it was aware of the SPARTANs' presence, it's searchlight was pointed elsewhere. The next thing they saw were three fleeing, panicked Grunts, about 20 yards away. That's when the two SPARTANs suddenly saw a Grunt go flying 30 feet, hitting a rock and dying instantly.

Suddenly two massive, intimidating, troll-like monsters galloped into view, one with a bloodied Grunt's forearm in it's mouth. The creatures were frightening, but at the same time breathtaking. They were large, twice their height, and when they thundered around, the ground shook, indicating that these things must've weighed at least 4 or 5 tons. Without a doubt these were carnivores, as their teeth were large, thick and sharp, easily biting the Grunts in half. They were bipedal, but also galloped around on their knuckles, like primates back on Earth. In addition to having colossal fangs, even though their claws were curved, they were incredibly long, and looked like scythe blades. Noble 6 could tell that the two creatures were both males, as they had long, impressive tusks, and just like an Earth elephant, they wouldn't be for impaling prey; they'd be used by males to joust over a female.

The remaining Grunts were slaughtered within seconds by the creatures, and the Phantom retreated. Unfortunately, one of the beasts spotted the SPARTANs, and grunted to alert the other. One of the monsters stood on it's hind legs, proving that it was double the height of a SPARTAN. The creature roared, bellowed and growled loudly, and Nobles 3 and 6 began to slowly back up, trying to avoid either looking like prey or like a competitor. Without warning, the other beast charged the SPARTANs head-on, with Jun as it's target. Noble 6 attempted to intercept and rescue his partner, but the monster smacked 6 with the back of it's hand, throwing him back against a boulder. The beast grabbed Jun in one hand, trapping him.

Jun yelled for help as the 13-foot beast brought the SPARTAN's head towards it's fanged maw, when a stray sniper bullet shot through it's eye, penetrating it's brain and killing it. The other creature, outraged by the death of it's partner, charged at Noble 6, but a well-timed grenade was thrown at the monster head-on, and decapitating the killer.

"That's my way of saying 'thanks' for those extra rounds", 6 said jokingly. "Thanks", Jun replied, patting 6 on the back. After Jun picked up his weapon he contacted Kat, asking her about the troll creatures. "Affirmative Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called a Gúta". From the time 6 spent on research, before he was deployed to Reach, 6 had learned that the "Gúta" was a fearsome, legendary beast of Hungarian mythology, and because Reach's initial colonists were Hungarian, they noticed the similarities and therefore named the creatures after their fictional monster. Well, it's a fitting nickname.

After passing by a group of Moa through a small canyon, the SPARTANs heard another noise: gunfire. Jun identified it as M6G magnum pistols, and after passing through a crevice, they were on a ledge overlooking a large, lakeside compound; probably another hydroelectric power plant. There was, as promised, a large company of Covenant, and down below, taking cover behind a large pile of lumber were 4 civilian males fighting Covenant with UNSC military ordnance; without a doubt stolen. These guys were a group of Insurrectionists, a faction of human separatists that hate being under UNSC leadership.

The SPARTANs decided to help their fellow humans, and with the arrival of the SPARTANs, the Covenant were driven out of the hydro plant within a matter of minutes. Everyone regrouped in the center. "Little more action than we're used to," their leader spoke, "You SPARTANs are good in a fight." "What are you doing here?", Jun asked, "Whole area is supposed to be evacuated." "We didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home", the man explained, "So we came back, for this." He hit a button, and two UNSC supply cases opened, containing a rocket launcher, sniper rifle, assault rifle and DMR. "We have 'em hidden all over the territory."

"Y'now this stuff is stolen", Jun commented.

"What, are you gonna arrest me?", the man asked.

"No. I'm just gonna steal it _back_...", Jun slyly replied.


	9. Revelations

After Jun had finished talking to the separatist leader, three Phantoms flew in, attempting to deploy troops to wipe out the rebels. 6 succeeded in blowing up one Phantom with the rocket launcher, and once they had stopped the Covenant, everyone moved down the dried riverbed. "Where does this riverbed lead?", Jun asked. "Straight to the hydro plant. We dammed this river up 45 years ago. Shame if it all gets wasted."

When they reached the hydro plant, Jun and 6 had made an important discovery: some type of Covenant stealth pylon had been assembled at the hydro plant, and after radioing Kat for her thought, she confirmed that the pylon was the source of the "dark zone". "Okay, consider it gone", Jun said, grinning with 6; who also wanted to blast the pylon into outer space. "Negative", Kat ordered, "Stick a remote det charge on it. Command is planning something big. They say that pylon ties it down."

The rebels, at Jun's command, stayed hidden, while Jun sniped the enemies near the pylon. Meanwhile, 6 had crept around and was assassinating whatever Jun left. If they detected Noble 6, they would get a face full of holes. Once the Covenant were eliminated, the separatists met up with 6 and Jun, who had started arming the explosives. "This is going to take a minute", Jun declared, "So keep your eyes peeled."

A Phantom flew into view, dropping off a pair of Hunters. Noble 6 and the Insurrectionists covered Jun and stopped the Hunters, but sadly at the cost of three of the four separatists. By this point, the charges were placed. "Recon Bravo to Noble 2, charge placed!", Jun announced to Kat. "Copy, I'm uploading security codes to you now", Kat replied. The surviving separatist and the pair of SPARTANs made their way to a security gate, which Jun opened. Suddenly, a Phantom flew up from below, startling everyone. It deployed a squad of Grunts, but with two well-thrown grenades, the Grunts were blown to pieces.

The SPARTANs kept pressing through, demolishing an enemy Shade turret and killing numerous Elites and Grunts. Unfortunately, their last militia trooper was repeatedly shot and was killed. But luckily, the SPARTANs made another important discovery: they could see Banshees flying overhead, and when they traced the fighters back to their source, they saw the top of a Corvette-class Covenant ship, like the one they fought back at Sword Base. "Noble 2, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship!", Jun announced. "Solid copy", Kat replied, "Don't stop now."

Once the final wave of Covenant infantry had been neutralized, Noble 6 and Jun crept up to the edge of the cliff, and made the most important, shocking discovery of the night: amassed in the valley below was a small fleet of at least half a dozen Corvettes, and below the stationary vessels the ground was a purple-pinkish shade, but it wasn't any natural feature or pollution: it was an assembling invasion force of millions of Covenant ground troops and thousands of ground vehicles. Large squadrons of Banshees could also be seen exiting the hangars of the Corvettes _en masse_. Below the cliff that the observing SPARTANs were on, there were also visible anti-air flak cannons that were constructed in advance, to eliminate UNSC air support. Upon seeing all this, Jun contacted Kat, who was also aghast at the sight. "If we're gonna smother this thing, we'll need to go in hard and fast."

"Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. The sun will be up in a few hours, and it's going to be a very busy day..."


	10. No Holding Back

_**August 12, 2552**_

__As discovered by Noble Team members Jun and Noble 6 the previous night, the Covenant were assembling an army in the Viery Territory. The size of the invasion force was gargantuan: dozens of fighter squadrons, hundreds of tanks and Ghosts and of course, at least a million Covenant foot soldiers. The Viery Territory was connected to the mainland via a single land bridge. The Covenant hadn't crossed the border yet, but if they did, the army would spread to every corner of Reach, killing millions and raining hell upon the land.

The UNSC was always ready to retaliate, and even from one of Reach's orbital satellites, Auntie Dot, the Noble Team AI from Sword Base, could see a cloud of dust, with hundreds of black specks moving in formation. It was quiet and small from orbit, but on the surface it was totally different. Hundreds of Warthogs in a enormous, spread-out formation were driving towards the Covenant LZ, backed up by a few "Mongoose" ATVs and several Scorpion tanks. Dozens of Falcons flew overhead to engage the Banshees, and a couple of Pelicans were around to provide air support, evacuation and reinforcements.

The ground assault was being led by Kat and 6, while Carter and Jorge stayed aboard their helicopters to provide air support and overwatch. Emile and Jun weren't directly on the battlefield; they were elsewhere, serving as Joint Fire Observers; which was the military designation for a soldier who commanded air support and artillery strikes. After a briefing on the current status of Covenant engagements and UNSC deployments by Dot, Carter radioed to Kat. "That landing zone has been marked by UNSC Command as a Priority One target", he announced. Jun, who had also received Carter's message, called Kat, informing her that the explosives planted the night before were linked and ready to be detonated. "Copy that", she replied, "Acquiring signal lock on the pylon." Kat pulled out a detonator. "Detonating in three, two...". Noble 6 turned to look at the cliffside, and he saw a large explosion. When he turned around, he spotted a large enemy vehicular force about half a mile away, firing mortars at the UNSC convoy. But that didn't matter for the moment, because a squadron of Banshees were performing numerous hit-and-run attacks. All Warthog gunners started firing at the fighters.

As the enemy attacked, the Warthogs spread out. The main army would engage the Covenant out in the desert across the water basin, while Kat, 6 and the two Warthogs following them proceeded toward the bridge crossing the river- or at least tried to. 6 yelled out upon spotting an incoming Wraith mortar, which destroyed the bridge and one of the Warthogs. Kat lost control of the vehicle, and they crashed on the other side.

When 6 came to, he was weary, shaken, and lying on the ground sideways. About 20 feet in front of him, he spotted the demolished, flaming Warthog, and Kat was near it, firing at a large platoon of Covenant at the top of the hill. 6 looked to his other side, towards the bridge. A fellow Warthog tried to make the jump, but missed, and 6 heard the soldiers screaming as they plummeted into the river canyon below to their deaths.

"6, can you hear me?", Kat suddenly shouted to 6. "6, you all right? I could use some help!" "On my way!", 6 replied as he got back up onto his feet. He noticed that the assault rifle he had been holding during the charge was nowhere to be seen, but next to him was a tool of destruction: a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher. He snatched it up off the ground and ran up to Kat.

"Kat, 6, what's your status?", Carter asked over comms. "Pylon is down; we're pushing up the hill!", she replied. After Noble 6 had killed five Grunts with a single grenade launcher shot, he heard Kat yell to get down. He quickly dived to the dirt, and just in time, as a fuel rod passed a foot right above him. After the round missed, 6 got up and labeled the source as a modified Shade turret. He fired a grenade, but he discovered something interesting: he was holding the trigger when he fired until it hit the Shade, but it didn't blow up on impact. He then let go, and the grenade detonated, which caused an EMP to stall the Shade. The Shade's Grunt gunner hopped out of the deactivated cannon in an attempt to take down the SPARTAN, but 6 fired another shell which hit the Grunt, this time a instant detonation which blasted the Grunt apart.

After repeating this procedure on another Shade, one of the support Pelicans hovered over the cliffside, with a Warthog in tow on it's tailgate. This Warthog was exactly identical to the previous ones Noble 6 had worked with back at Sword Base, bt this one had a new weapon: a M79 MLRS rocket turret capable of firing a volley of 6 anti-armor rockets every 4 seconds. The rockets were decent against vehicles and infantry, but like the UNSC's handheld rocket launcher, these rockets had anti-aircraft lock-on capabilities, making it a formidable tool to use against Covenant Banshees and Phantoms.

6 hopped behind the wheel, and when Kat climbed in the sideseat, the Warthog moved on towards the objective, which they were being briefed about by Carter: ONI reconnaissance teams had spotted at least two Covenant Type-38 "Tyrant" anti-air cannons that were eliminating UNSC air support. Kat and 6 were in very close proximity to one of these guns; its loud fire and the sight of large plasma rounds further proving this.

Carter suddenly received a distress call from a UNSC Air Force unit, 2 Lima 4, who called to complain about the Tyrant and how it was preventing their Longswords from issuing a bombing run on the Covenant frontlines. After Auntie Dot also mentioned that the cannons were also halting the advance of UNSC Heavy Frigates _Grafton _and_ Saratoga_, Carter, Kat and Noble 6 agreed that it was important to disable the anti-air guns in order to allow more UNSC forces to land and push back the Covenant army.

Turning the corner, Kat and 6 spotted the AA gun, which had just shot down a heavily-armed Falcon within a matter of seconds. Guarding the gun was a Revenant, and up at the top of the hill where the cannon was, a large platoon of Grunts and Jackals led by an Elite General were stationary, but alert. As soon as the Revenant was in range, the UNSC soldier manning the rocket turret fired a volley, hitting the Revenant in the side. The rockets presumably hit a power source or gas tank, because the Revenant started spinning and shaking; nearing a cliffside, and with a single , small explosion, the Revenant flipped up in the air and off the cliff. Kat and Noble 6 continued to proceed up the hill, and when the Covenant infantry were in sight and firing, the Warthog's gunner shared fire, turning the rocket launcher and decimating the enemy footsoldiers with a salvo of missiles.

Once the cannon's defenses were neutralized, 6 put the Warthog in reverse and backed up a couple meters to give the gunner a clear shot at the tower. The trooper fired at least 3 barrages of missiles, but for some reason, the gun wasn't destroyed. Carter contacted Noble 6 to inform him of the new discovery: normal explosives wouldn't affect the gun, but Dot then joined in, suggesting that 6 destroy the power source at the center of the gun. Following Dot's suggestion, 6 drove back up to the AA cannon, and hopped out of the Warthog. Kat also got out, but to change seats so that way, if 6 got into trouble or the gun was about to blow, the Warthog would have a driver and the SPARTANs could quickly get to a safe distance before the Tyrant's detonation.

Once inside, 6 spotted the central power source. It was cylindrical in shape, with glass-like walls all around except for one spot, where there was an energy barrier. The interior had what appeared to be a floating, circular electric mass, and as 6 heard the gun prepare to fire, the energy mass started to slightly flatten while moving down, and each time the gun fired a plasma shell, electricity sparked up vertically with the appearance of lightning. When the gun had ceased fire, 6 pulled out an assault rifle and fired a clip at the energy wall, disabling it. Now that the core was exposed, 6 pulled out a grenade and casually tossed it into the power core. The grenade detonated, and a large blast came out of the now destroyed power core. While 6 sprinted back to the Rocket Warthog, he watched as the Tyrant began to fall apart. As the self-destruct alarm rang, the gun slightly shuddered and sparked, while small explosions that appeared all over the gun blasted off pieces of metal. Following that, the main alarm stopped and a roaring noise was heard right before the AA gun exploded. The interior was almost as badly ruined as the top of the cannon; black explosion marks all over the walls, pieces of metal either missing completely or peeled, and the energy core's protective fiberglass walls were shattered.

Immediately following this, Carter contacted Noble 6 to praise him for the destruction of the gun, before re-establishing contact with 2 Lima 4 to inform them that the skies were clear. Acknowledging this, 2 Lima proceeded to alert all the ground forces out in the desert to steer clear of the bomber's flight path. Kat and Noble 6 looked up above the demolished AA cannon to see two Longswords zoom overhead, which flew in close above the battlefield and then turned course. Within seconds, the three enemy Scarab walkers harassing the UNSC vehicles were destroyed, one-by-one. At the same time, the two UNSC Heavy Frigates, _Grafton _and_ Saratoga _lowered down and stopped. Their weapon systems were brought online and they fired upon the Covenant forces and structures, which helped to push back the Covenant significantly. In addition, 6 spotted several additional Pelicans deploying from the _Grafton_, presumably transporting reinforcements and equipment to the vehicular task force. Once the SPARTANs were sure that the sector was secure, they climbed back into their Warthog and continued to move through enemy-controlled territory, pushing towards the second AA gun that Carter had reported, and then to the unidentified Covenant "Spire 1", their objective, and what appeared to be one of the enemy's primary command and resupply bases.


	11. The Spire

Noble 6 was once again contacted by Carter. Evidently, the Covenant had captured the BXR mining facility, and were using it as a command outpost. The interesting part was that an Elite Zealot was commanding the Covenant forces from inside the facility. Noble 6 was now tasked with neutralizing this Zealot.

Once Kat and 6 drove out of the canyon, they spotted the facility on the other side of a small canyon, and a massive firefight occurring on the bridge spanning the chasm. Noble 6 slammed his foot on the gas, and the UNSC trooper on the M79 MLRS aimed at the primary threat: a Shade turret ripping the troopers' cover to shreds. Noble 6 gave the order, and in the blink of an eye, 6 missiles flew across the canyon and crashed into the base of the turret, blasting pieces of metal across the concrete and incinerating the Grunt that was operating the cannon. 6 and Kat hopped out of the Warthog, and proceeded into the compound, with the surviving troops following tail.

A Skirmisher was lying in wait behind a bunch of crates and wooden pallets, and it managed to lunge out at one of the Army troopers, sinking its sharp teeth into the young soldier's neck before being shot in the windpipe by Noble 6. 6's squad briefly and silently honored their fallen squadmate before pressing on towards the HVT.

After slaughtering a small group of Grunts and an Elite, the SPARTANs reached the center of the compound, and the Elite Zealot inside it. The Elite spotted the SPARTANs, and sent its Grunt guards to neutralize the threat. The Army troopers quickly shot down the Grunts with their assault rifles. The Zealot pulled out its energy sword and threw it at one of the troopers, effectively decapitating the trooper with extreme prejudice and force. The Zealot, however, failed to keep an eye on Noble 6 and Kat, who were sneaking up on the Elite. 6 grabbed the monster by the neck, and before the Zealot could react, 6 tossed the Zealot against an oil tank, and Kat instantly pulled out her sidearm. One bullet hit the tank, and the Elite was incinerated; blood and pieces of roasted Covenant armor scattering across the ground. The explosion also blasted a hole in the floor, which Kat and 6 hopped down.

At the back of the facility were a few unoccupied Covenant vehicles, probably being repaired; which was evident by a few Grunts on the ground with weird Covenant power tools. It wasn't difficult to execute them, and, lacking their Warthog, the SPARTANs commandeered one of the vehicles, a Revenant, and took off towards the next anti-aircraft gun, which could be heard- and to a degree, felt -over the next ridge.

Suddenly a loud whirring sound- that of a UNSC Falcon -filled their ears. 6 and Kat looked up to see what the commotion was about. It was a Falcon; a smoking Falcon spinning out of control while sparking and igniting. The Falcon sputtered and continued to explode, until it crashed on the other side of the hills; in close proximity to the AA gun.

Once Nobles 2 and 6 came out of the gorge, they were once again contacted by Carter, who was imploring them to eliminate the AA gun ASAP, as it was the only thing protecting their original target; the large, shielded Covenant tower codenamed "Spire One". The SPARTANs looked to see what their opposition looked like: at least three Wraith tanks, about two Jackal squads, an Elite Ultra with its Grunt bodyguards, two Hunters, a pack of about eight Skirmishers, and Yanme'e, flying insectoids commonly called Drones, and nicknamed "Buggers" by numerous UNSC personnel. The SPARTANs also noticed the smoldering, burnt wreckage of the downed Falcon. Even from this distance, it was pretty obvious that there weren't any survivors. If the crash or the explosion didn't kill the crew, the area was crawling with Covenant; and the survivors wouldn't stand a chance at all.

6 and Kat were aware that they had a captured Covenant vehicle, but unlike a small, highly exposed Ghost speeder, the Revenant was larger and more covered. Instantly, the two SPARTANs came up with a plan: they would plant two or three explosive charges on the Revenant, drive it straight into the power room of the AA gun, bail out as it zoomed into the power cell, and the cannon would explode like a firecracker.

Once the bombs were planted, 6 and Kat smoothly drove down the hill towards the cannon, knowing that if they drove too slow or too fast, they would draw attention, which would instantly result in the death of the two SPARTANs. As they moved towards the gun, the Covenant were blissfully unaware, and allowed them to pass. Aware that he now had the chance, Noble 6 nodded to Kat, and floored the Revenant, launching it towards the AA gun like a torpedo. The SPARTANs dived out of the vehicle, which sped towards the power source as predicted, and a massive explosion shook the ground, with ash and shards of burnt metal spitting out of the Tyrant. There was a quick, loud roaring noise that the SPARTANs heard earlier when they destroyed the first cannon, and the tower erupted, splitting apart and crashing to the ground with massive force.

Once the dust had settled, the SPARTANs stood up, but instantly saw that they were completely surrounded by the Ultra Elite, the Hunters, the Buggers, and one of the Wraiths. Moments before the SPARTANs were blasted to pieces, high caliber rounds came up from the sky, hitting the back of the Wraith and demolishing it. Instantly 6 recognized the sound as the chin-mounted M638 Autocannon of a Pelican gunship. The Pelican swooped in over the hillside, backed by two Falcons. While the Falcons attacked the remaining Covenant tanks, the Pelican, after killing the pair of Hunters, opened up its troop bay, and a platoon of UNSC Army troopers hopped out and immediately started attacking the Drones. 6 and Kat picked up their rifles and assisted the troopers in killing the Drones. The Elite ordered its remaining infantry to counterattack the UNSC forces, but they were quickly and swiftly cut up by the troopers. The Pelican, which was still hovering low, turned its cannon toward the Ultra and killed it. After the Covenant force was neutralized, the Pelican and one of the Falcons took off, and one of the Falcons landed, with Noble 5 aboard. While Kat volunteered to stay behind with the platoon, Noble 6 climbed aboard one of the Falcon's MG460 grenade launcher turrets, and took off towards the Spire.

The Falcons were flying up the river valley, which was surrounded by rocky cliffs, which in turn were covered in numerous Wraiths and Shade turrets. 6 opened fire on the enemy armor, but kept his finger on the trigger, as the MG460 was automatically reloaded with every shot. The grenade launcher made short work of the enemy forces, and when the armor was destroyed, the Falcon was hovering outside of the Spire's shield. "Priority One pilot; we've gotta know what's in there", Jorge ordered the pilot.

"Affirmative sir, here we go..."

The Falcon flew through the shield, but the moment the crew entered, the Falcon lost all power, and started spinning towards the ground. "LOCK YOUR ARMOR SPARTAN!", Jorge shouted to 6, who did as he was told. "Brace for a hard landing!", yelled the pilot, and the Falcon smashed down, losing one of its rotors, crashing against rocks and trees until it finally came to a rest. Jorge was relatively unharmed, and 6 got hit in the back of the head by one of the grenade turrets, but he wasn't too injured, seeing how he was wearing his helmet. Realizing that they were the only two survivors of the crash, Jorge notified 6 that they should keep moving.

Noticing a small army of Covenant forces advancing towards them, 6 and Jorge spotted a flatbed truck, like the one they used in Visegrad. Jorge hopped on the back with his heavy machinegun, and 6 plowed through the Covenant troops, driving towards the Spire. A fuel rod launched from a Fuel Rod Shade hit one of the back tires, catapulting the two SPARTANs onto the ground. Jorge volunteered to keep the Covenant at bay, and 6 went up the gravity lift to the top of the Spire to take down the shield.


	12. Nightmare

Once Noble 6 had reached the top of the Spire, he noticed that he had company: about five Grunts armed with Fuel Rod Guns, as well as an Elite Ultra with an energy sword. The Ultra spotted the SPARTAN, and roared; then two of the Grunts approached him. 6 rapidly swung his arm back, cracking the Grunt's skull and shattering its mask; killing it. The other Grunt fired a fuel rod at Noble 6, but he jumped over the projectile, tackling the Grunt and killing it by smashing it against the wall.

One of the Grunts fired a round that hit the ground and knocked 6 out of the room, onto the circular exterior surrounding the top of the Spire. 6 looked down, and nearly vomited upon seeing how high up he was. His nausea was interrupted by the Grunts, one of which fired at him. He dived behind a container and pulled out his assault rifle. Quickly glancing at the ammo counter on his assault rifle, 6 noticed that his rifle only had about 6 rounds left. Noble 6 turned around and took aim at the first Grunt. He quickly and precisely fired 4 shots at the head of the next Grunt, killing it. Realizing that the gun was out of ammo, 6 flung the empty assault rifle at the head of another Grunt, smashing the right side of the Grunt's skull. One more Grunt stood in front of 6, shivering with fear. It dropped its Fuel Rod Gun, and slowly walked back into the control room.

The Elite, however, wasn't too pleased with the Grunt's surrender, and 6 watched as the enraged saurian activated its energy sword and slice off the Grunt's arm before stabbing it between the eyes. Once the Grunt was dead, the Elite blindly charged at the SPARTAN, who merely side-stepped the charging beast and turned to watch as it plummeted to its death about 90 feet below.

6 walked back into the shield control room and on Carter's orders, he deactivated the shield. Knowing that it was going to be gunned down by the UNSC's artillery, 6 sprinted towards an evac Falcon hovering at the edge of the balcony, which was also carrying Carter and Jorge. 6 leaped, and Jorge managed to catch him and pull him into the Falcon. When Noble 6 was aboard, Carter ordered the pilot to pull out, and the helicopter turned away.

"Control, this is Noble 1", he announced over comms, "Spire One is green, and you're free to engage. Have a nice day." "Copy that, Noble One. Be advised, all ground units: Frigate Three-One-Eight heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized."

"MAC rounds? In atmosphere?", Jorge asked with both surprise and concern.

"One way to get their attention. Hold onto your teeth, people!", Carter replied.

The SPARTANs watched as the UNSC _Grafton _slowly dived down past their Falcon and pulled back up, taking aim at the Spire. The SPARTANs then heard the priming buzzing noise of the Heavy Frigate's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon before hearing and seeing the rapid, lightning-like projectile strike the Spire in the blink of an eye. Immediately after, they watched the Spire crumble to the ground in a large cloud of dust.

The SPARTANs failed to notice an ominous, momentary purple-pink light above the _Grafton_, but suddenly spotted an energy beam streak down from the sky, hitting the _Grafton_ in its midsection, which immediately destroyed the vessel in less than 10 seconds. Carter, Jorge, and Noble 6 watched in horror as explosions tore through the _Grafton_, blasting off massive segments of the engines and rear hull, while the now-severed front section crashed down, creating a much bigger cloud of dust.

During the middle of this living nightmare, UNSC Air Control attempted to reach _Grafton _via comms. "The _Grafton _is dust! We need to get out of here _now_!", Carter yelled. As the Falcon quickly removed itself from the area, Noble 6 took one brief look at the ruins of the _Grafton_, and looked up to see what kind of Covenant ship was responsible for the massacre. It wasn't the usual Corvette or CCS-Class Battlecruiser, the backbone of the Covenant fleet.

It was a Covenant Supercarrier.


	13. Kat's Plan

_** August 13, 2552**_

A Covenant Scarab climbed down from a ledge that was shadowing a small cave. It kept walking, undisturbed, and stopped to fire at a Pelican that was attempting to defeat it. It briefly fired its main plasma beam at the gunship, which instantly fried the attacker. Once the threat was eliminated, it continued onward.

When the walker was gone, Noble Team quickly moved into the cave; Jorge carrying an unknown briefcase. "Our foe is more devious than we imagined", Auntie Dot declared over comms. "That Spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked Covenant Supercarrier; a grave threat. Thankfully, help is imminent. Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours?" Jun stated in disbelief, "_That's _imminent?" Jun and Jorge both turned to look at Carter and Kat, who were debating about who-knows-what. "Uh-oh; who's your money on this time?", Jun jokingly asked Jorge. "Her", he replied. "You always pick her", Jun remarked back. "She's always had him dialed in."

"That thing's crushing us and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a grave!", Kat protested. "All our nukes are either out-system or went down with the ships that carried them. You're preaching to the converted", Carter answered. "How converted?", asked Kat.

"I know that look, Kat."

"You can say no."

"No."

"You don't even want to hear it?"

Eventually Carter had to give in. Kat's plans were almost always crazy or risky, but sometimes they worked, like when Noble Team managed to save the capital of a UNSC colony world from a Covenant Battlecruiser, which was butchering hundreds of thousands of colonists. Aside from the civilian casualties, the only major loss was that of Thom-B293, the former Noble 6. "Fine, I'll hear it."

"Remember that accident a couple years back? Colony ship en route to Cygnus. Seven hundred dead?"

"Vaguely. A slipspace drive malfunction, right?", Carter asked.

"Actually, it worked fine. The drive was mounted improperly after a service haul-out. When it fired, it teleported half the ship to oblivion."

"And this is relevant, how?"

"A certain Covenant Supercarrier could, maybe, with some assistance, suffer the same unfortunate accident...?"

"Even for you, Kat, that's-"

"Inspired?"

"Well that's not the word I would use."

"What's going on?", Jorge asked. Carter turned back to Kat. "Go ahead. Explain." Kat reached for Emile's kukri knife, but he blocked her hand. "May I?", she asked calmly. "Don't cut yourself", he replied in a joking manner. Kat took the kukri and started drawing a diagram of her plan into the sand. "Objective? Destroy Covenant Supercarrier in geosynchronous orbit above us", she explained. "Method? A slipspace drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system? Us. Solvable? Getting us up there. That, and getting our hands on a slip-space drive." Kat handed Emile his kukri. "Thank you for sharing", said Kat.

"So... All we need is orbit-capable transport, and the single most expensive piece of equipment ever made by man?", Carter questioned. "Yes, but as a soldier in the field I couldn't _possibly_ have access to those kinds of resources - that said, a good place to look might be... I don't know, the nearest nonexistent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor... And in which our newest member was _certainly_ never a pilot", Kat clarified. Everyone turned to look at Noble 6, who just merely shrugged, but everyone could tell that he was willing to go along with this plan.

"You're scary; do you know that?", Emile commented to Kat. Kat ignored Emile's comment and continued with her plan. "All we need now is a green light from Holland, sir", she said to Carter. "Good luck with that." "You're the one asking him, sir". Kat handed Carter a data pad.

"Oh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this..."


	14. A Day at the Beach

_**August 14, 2552**_

As the small, calm waves of the Farkas Lake calmly washed against the rocky, sandy shore of the beach outside the Sabre Program Launch Facility, sand started blowing lightly as a Falcon carrying Noble Team (save for Emile and Jun) hovered down onto the far side of the beach. Noble 6, Kat, Jorge, and Carter hopped out, and the helicopter took off. "Bit of a hike to the launch facility...", Jorge noted. "Anywhere closer's too hot to land", Carter explained. "Move up the beach, Noble!", he ordered.

After heading up the hill from the cove that they were inserted in, the SPARTANs spotted the Launch Facility up the beach; not too far away. Unfortunately, the Covenant somehow knew about the facility, and there was a significant firefight inside the base, at the entrance, and up in the air. Several UNSC anti-air guns were firing at numerous enemy Seraph starfighters flying high above the beach and some that were attempting bombing runs on the compound.

Seraph fighters were a lot different than Banshees, for a number of reasons. Seraphs were much faster and larger than Banshees, plus they housed a larger array of powerful weapon systems. Seraphs were very much capable of aerial combat in atmosphere, but in the same way that a UNSC Falcon wouldn't be effective in vacuum, Seraphs were designed as the Covenant's primary space fighter, and as an equivalent to two UNSC space vehicles: the YS-1000 Sabre, and the Longsword interceptor/bomber.

The Seraphs were also escorting more Spirit dropships, and one was heading towards Noble Team. Noble 6, however, spotted a rocket launcher with at least two rockets left; presumably dropped by a retreating Army trooper. 6 picked up the launcher and carefully aimed for the center of the Spirit. He fired both rockets once he had a lock, and with extreme prejudice and luck, the rockets hit the dropship, and the Spirit crashed onto the beach and exploded, killing all Covenant reinforcements aboard the transport. Jorge patted 6 on the shoulder, and Carter praised him. The victory was short-lived, however, as about half-a-dozen Covenant Orbital Insertion Pods, or OIPs, landed on the beach. Several Elite Minors lead by an Ultra, plus a dozen Grunts, walked out of the pods and began to attack the SPARTANs.

"Let's move!", Carter shouted, and the SPARTANs sprinted down the shoreline towards the base, cutting down any Covenant that stood in their way. When they reached the entrance of the compound, there was a firefight occurring between a fireteam of Army troopers against a small group of two Elites and about ten Grunts. Jorge and Noble 6 assisted the troopers in killing the Elites, while Carter and Kat gunned down the Grunts.

Suddenly, 6 looked out towards the lake and spotted one of the Seraphs getting shot down by an anti-aircraft gun. It dived down towards the water and pulled up, which put the Seraph into a collision-course with one of the outer walls of the facility. "Oh my God! Commander, the Seraph's about to crash into the launch facility!", 6 exclaimed. "Get down! Everybody get down!", Carter shouted. The Seraph smashed head-on into the side of the base with a large explosion, also demolishing the turret that shot it out of the sky.

Once the dust had settled, the base doors opened, and two troopers were waiting for Noble Team. At the same time, a Pelican also flew in to drop off a platoon of Army reinforcements to push back the Covenant force assaulting the base. The lead trooper informed them where Flight Control was, and offered to take them to it. "Still can't believe Holland said yes to this", Jorge mumbled. "Well some plans are too good to say 'no'", Kat commented.


	15. Anchor 9

After killing an Elite Officer, Noble Team continued through the facility until they reached the control room. The doors locked behind them, and the windows opened to reveal a YS-1000 Sabre, ready to take off. "Jorge, 6, get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it!", Carter ordered. "What about you and Kat?", Jorge questioned. "Jun's on his way with a Falcon. We'll exfil after you launch. Move!", Carter replied. "You heard him 6, let's go!", Jorge stated.

Nobles 5 and 6 walked up the catwalk towards the Sabre. One of the troopers reported that the Sabre was ready. The SPARTANs hopped into the Sabre, and the cockpit sealed itself. The troopers moved off of the catwalk into the flight control room, and a computerized voice began the countdown. "Struts disengaged. Commencing launch in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2..." The Sabre's engines quickly ignited, and the fighter lifted off from the facility. Sabres from other parts of the facility soon followed.

The Sabres left the upper atmosphere and had reached orbit. "Stage separation in 3, 2, 1... Stage separation", the computer announced. The Sabres' booster rockets detached, and the Sabres took off towards the nearby orbital station Anchor 9. 6 and Jorge's Sabre, Bravo 029 was contacted by Colonel Holland. "Copy Actual. Colonel Holland?", Jorge replied back. "Affirmative Noble 5, welcome to Operation: UPPERCUT. I'll be your control from here on out", Holland explained. "Understood Colonel", said Jorge. "Noble 6, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense", Holland continued, " You may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous at Anchor 9 with frigate _Savannah _and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out."

Noble 6 flew around for a little, tested the weapons systems on a piece of floating debris, and regrouped with the rest of the squadron. Suddenly Jorge detected movement on the radar; about 15 unidentified contacts, which no doubt were Covenant. Anchor 9 contacted all of the Sabres, as well as the UNSC frigate _Savannah_, requesting that they defend the station and provide support, as the station's weapons were down, but were coming back online. "Here we go 6, show 'em what you can do", Jorge remarked.

The contacts quickly exited slipspace. They were Banshees, but a different, faster, more streamlined model as opposed to the standard ground-support atmosphere Banshees. The Sabres instantly locked onto the Banshees, cutting them up with their machine cannons. Noble 6's Sabre pursued one of the Banshees, and fired a short burst at it. The rounds struck the left thruster of the Banshee, and it arched, zooming uncontrollably into on of the engines of the _Savannah_. It didn't cause any major damage luckily, but the lieutenant in command of the frigate wasn't too happy.

Once the Banshees had been scrapped, Anchor 9's sensors detected impulse drive signatures; Seraph-class. The Seraphs exited slipspace and immediately assaulted the Sabres. Noble 6 homed in on one, and when he was locked on target, he fired a salvo of Medusa missiles at the fighter. The missiles hit the target, but deflected. One of the ricocheting rockets suddenly struck one of the other Sabres, destroying it. Colonel Holland contacted the Sabre team, informing them that they had shields, which could be cracked with their machine guns. Once the shield was deactivated, their Medusa missiles could lock onto and easily destroy the target. The Sabres tried the tactic, and it worked with great success; the Sabres quickly making short work of the enemy Seraphs.

"Anchor 9 to all craft in the vicinity, be advised: we show a large attack force inbound. Combat air patrol and Sabre teams are directed to engage and defend the station", the station reported. "Is there any place the Covenant isn't?", Jorge asked sarcastically. At that moment, Anchor 9's weapon defenses had come back online. They had come back with perfect timing, as a massive, combined wing of Seraphs and Banshees exited slipspace. Anchor 9's machine guns opened up on the fighters, and a large dogfight ensued. Anchor 9 also had some additional, docked Sabres, which took off as well to help drive the Covenant fighters back.

During the middle of the battle, the station notified the Sabre teams that several Phantom gunboats, modified Phantom dropships refitted into heavy assault ships, were inbound. Sure enough, 5 Phantoms departed from slipspace and started bombarding Anchor 9 with their plasma torpedoes. The Sabres flew around the Phantoms, and began striking them from the rear with barrages of missiles. One by one, the Phantoms blew up until they were all defeated. Once the Phantoms had been destroyed, the remaining Seraphs and Banshees, which were now dangerously outmatched, turned tail and retreated back into slipspace.

Noble 6 headed towards Anchor 9's hangar, having receive authorization to dock. Once the Sabre docked, Jorge asked 6 for his override. 6 opened the cockpit, and Jorge climbed onto the hull of the fighter. He turned to look at 6, and glided over to a nearby Pelican dropship, which was carrying the slipspace bomb that they were planning to use to destroy the Covenant Supercarrier. As Jorge flew towards the Pelican, he muttered something in Hungarian. "Noble 5, please repeat", Auntie Dot asked. "Pull up surface grid 19 by 22", he ordered. "Gladly. ONI Sword Base, Sector 18G." "Thermal enhance", Jorge continued. "Noble 5, your pulse is elevated. There is nothing you can do for Dr. Halsey and the others inside Sword Base. The mathematics are determinate... Noble 5?", Auntie Dot asked. Jorge was silent for a moment, but mumbled an "I know."

Noble 6 was then told he could re-engage thrusters, and then he was contacted by Holland. "Go ahead Colonel", he asked. "We've flagged a Corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target. Get our makeshift bomb aboard that Corvette, and we have our delivery system. Noble 5 will escort the bomb. I need your

Sabre team to clear the way for boarding", Holland explained. "Understood Colonel", 6 replied. "As she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the _Savannah_ will be joining you to provide local fire support", Holland added. "UNSC _Savannah_, our wings may be clipped, but we've got your back", the _Savannah_'s commanding officer added. "I've stuck my neck out on Noble on this one Lieutenant", Colonel Holland commented.

"We'll get it done Colonel. 6 out."


	16. The Ardent Prayer

The Covenant Corvette _Ardent Prayer _was in Covenant-controlled space in Reach orbit, en-route to the Covenant Supercarrier _Long Night of Solace_ to refuel. Unbeknownst to the _Prayer_, it had company.

"Frigate _Savannah _in position", the commander of the frigate announced. "Sabre team, sound off."

"Echo 1, all systems nominal."

"Echo 2, good to go."

"Echo 3, systems green."

"Echo 4, all systems online!"

"Solid copy", the _Savannah _replied, "We are currently jamming the Corvette's comms. Hit it hard while it can't call for help!" "Agreed; Sabre teams, clear a path to that Corvette!", Colonel Holland ordered. The Sabres engages their thrusters and flew down towards the Corvette. The Corvette, now knowing that it was under attack, deployed a squadron of Banshees from its aft launch bay to counter the Sabres' assault. The Sabres cut up the Banshees with no difficulty, while the _Savannah _circled the Corvette, harassing it and diverting its cannons away from the fighters. Seraph fighters attempted to get close to the _Savannah_, but the frigate shredded up the fighters with its machine guns.

The _Savannah_ informed Colonel Holland that it would be in their best interest to take out the Corvette's engines, so that they could slow it down. Holland agreed, and ordered the fighters to target the engines with their missiles. Noble 6 made a wide loop around the rear of the ship, and turned so the Sabre was facing the engines. He fired a couple of rockets at each of the four main engines, and the Corvette slowed down significantly.

"Heads up Sabres, multiple impulse drive signatures detected!", the _Savannah _warned. Several Seraphs proceeded to arrive out of slipspace and began attacking the Sabres. "Echo 2 to _Savannah _Actual, where are the reinforcements coming from? I thought the target was jammed!", one of the pilots asked. "Must be squadrons coming back from patrol, Echo 2", the _Savannah _replied. "Don't let any of them get away Sabres", Holland implored, "Kill 'em before they bug out and warn that Supercarrier what we're up to!"

The Sabres attacked the Seraphs, cutting them down much more quickly than earlier, possibly because there were more Seraphs last time. None of the Seraphs attempted to retreat during the battle, but it didn't matter, because they never got a chance to. Another squadron of Banshees attempted to launch from one of the the Corvette's underside launch bays, but Noble 6 was able to intercept them, and with one barrage of missiles, he reduced almost two dozen Banshees into space dust.

"Dot, analyze all available data on that Corvette. Find a way inside!", Holland requested. "Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform atop of the vessel", Auntie Dot replied. "Good. Noble 6, set down immediately on that Corvette's topside landing pad", Holland ordered. "Copy that", 6 replied. He flew down towards the pad.

6 extended the landing gear and touched down on top of the Corvette. The other Sabres followed as well. Noble 6 and the pilots, who were wearing specialized EVA gear, exited their fighters and moved towards the energy shield in the center of the landing pad. Immediately, two Elite Rangers flew up from below the shield and started attacking the team. Noble 6 pulled out a shotgun that he had acquired back at the launch facility, before he and Jorge had taken off, and quickly disposed of the two Elites. Noble 6 was then informed by Holland that the _Savannah _was taking a beating, and that it wouldn't be able to support the team forever, so they should permanently disable the Corvette's communications.

Noble 6 and the troopers jumped down through the energy shield into the communications center, and quickly dispatched the remaining Covenant in the room; three Elite Rangers and four Grunt Ultras. 6 notified Holland that the crew was aboard the ship, and that the Corvette's comms were disabled. Holland relayed the message to the _Savannah_, which proceeded to divert all of its power and personnel to weapons. Noble 6 and his team moved down the hall from the comm center, down to the main hangar. After slaying a few more Grunts, 6 and the troops entered the hangar, where they were suddenly ambushed by several Elites lead by an Ultra, as well as a dozen Grunts. A firefight erupted in the hangar between the soldiers and the aliens, and 6 informed his men that he was going to move to deactivate the hangar's shields, to let Jorge's gunship deliver the bomb as well as to help kill the Covenant troops that were attacking them. Noble 6 sprinted up the walkway towards the shield control panel, and hit it.

Jorge's Pelican, under cover from the _Savannah_, floated down into the hangar. It deployed its landing gear and came to a stop. Once the Pelican had landed, Jorge and several troopers hopped out the troop bay and finished off the Covenant troops. Once the Covenant were all wiped out, Jorge notified Holland that the bomb was aboard the Corvette. "Copy that", he replied. "6, get your fireteam to the bridge. The Corvette's refueling run with the Supercarrier will have to be initiated manually. 5, stay with the bomb. And discourage the curious." "You hear that Lieutenant? I'll be all on my lonesome here. Make it quick, would ya?", Jorge asked 6 jokingly.

Noble 6 regrouped with his troopers, and moved towards a door that presumably led to the ship's bridge. The door opened, and in front of 6 and the soldiers stood a few panicked Grunts and an Elite, which were all neutralized quickly. They moved past the bodies, down the hall, which put the squad in the gunnery bay. An unwary Elite Ultra operating the cannons aimed the guns at the vulnerable areas of the _Savannah_, which was continuing to encircle the Corvette.

"_Savannah _to Holland, sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel!" "Copy _Savannah_, our team is in. Disengage!", a worried Holland replied back. Realizing that the frigate was in serious danger, 6 quickly sprinted up to the Elite and snapped its neck, but he soon realize it was too late. Explosions blossomed across the _Savannah_'s hull, and moments after, violent explosion erupted from the middle of the _Savannah_, tearing off the other engine and splitting the _Savannah _in half. Colonel Holland tried to contact the _Savannah_, but it was pretty clear that the frigate was gone.

"Noble, you're in deep with no cover! Get that Corvette moving and get the hell out of there!", Holland ordered.


	17. Good News and Bad News

After briefly watching the _Savannah's _wreckage float out of sight, Noble 6's squad moved down the corridor and eventually arrived at the bridge. "Looks like the bridge, SPARTAN. Let's clear it out", one of 6's troopers stated. The SPARTAN ordered his troopers to set a trap by moving behind cover so that they could ambush the Covenant. While his men moved into position, Noble 6 quietly crept down towards the Elite General commanding the vessel, knife in hand. The Elite began to detect Noble 6, and as soon as the Elite turned around, 6 had pounced onto the Elite and thrust his knife into the General's throat. One of the Grunts saw 6 assassinate the Elite, and yelled out. The rest of the Grunts and two invisible Spec-Ops Elites, which 6 didn't even notice, spotted 6, and began to attack.

"Cody! Sinker! Hack! D.J! Now!", 6 shouted, and the troopers popped out from their cover and began shooting at the Covenant. 6 killed one of the Spec-Ops Elites, but then the other pulled out its energy sword and charged 6, knocking him to the ground. 6 reached for his shotgun, but the Elite snatched it from his hands and chopped it in half with its sword. The Elite, however, forgot about 6, and the SPARTAN used this moment to quickly pull out his knife and stab the Elite in the side of the jaw. Once the Elite had died, 6 pulled his knife out and picked up the plasma repeater that the first Elite had been using, then regrouped with his squad. "Move Lieutenant, put that Corvette on a refueling track with the Supercarrier!", Colonel Holland ordered. 6 found the navigation controls and set the Corvette on a course to the Supercarrier. "Well done Noble 6", Holland stated, "UPPERCUT initiated. Corvette is underway!"

"6, our ride outta here is taking fire!", Jorge reported. Noble 6 and his team then quickly rushed back to the hangar to assist Jorge, knowing that if the Pelican was destroyed, then they wouldn't have a way to get off the ship before the Corvette reached the Supercarrier. Because his shotgun was broken, Noble 6 pulled out his dual handguns, which he frequently carried in white, rectangular holsters that were attached to his utility belt in case of emergencies or if he ran out of ammo.

When the squad reached the hangar, about five sudden needle rifle shots came out of nowhere and struck troopers Cody and D.J in the forehead and neck, respectively. The two remaining troopers and 6 quickly moved to assist Jorge, who was in a fight for his life, surrounded by Skirmishers, Elites, and Grunts. "Good of you to come. Hostiles are pounding the hell out of our Pelican!", Jorge commented when he saw Noble 6 arrive. As Noble 6, Jorge, and troopers Hack and Sinker pushed back the Covenant, a plasma grenade thrown by a Grunt hit the ground, in close proximity to the group. The explosion killed Hack, and tossed Sinker against a crate. Noble 6 was knocked to the ground as well. Jorge was fighting to defend his downed teammates, but was too busy taking care of an Elite with a plasma launcher to notice an Elite Officer rush up to 6 and grab him by the neck. The Elite was about to thrust its wrist-mounted energy dagger through 6's face when Sinker quickly stood up and shot one DMR round through the Elite's skull, sparing 6's life.

Moments after, an energy sword was thrust through the trooper's torso, killing him. An Elite Ultra appeared, and charged at Noble 6, but before the beast could impale the downed SPARTAN, Jorge came to the rescue, leaping off the top of the Pelican and tackling the Elite, shattering nearly all of its bones. 6 got back up, put his magnums back into their holsters, and regrouped with Jorge at the slipspace bomb.

"Distance is closing on this vessel's refueling track with the Covenant Supercarrier. 76 seconds to endpoint", Auntie Dot announced.

"Dammit", Jorge growled. "So, its going to be like that... Well", he started, hitting the timer in annoyance, "I've got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast, which means that the only way off this slag heap is gravity."

"And the good news?" 6 asked.

"That **was** the good news", Jorge replied.

"At current velocity, 53 seconds to endpoint", Dot resumed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...", Jorge muttered, removing his helmet and dropping onto the floor.

Jorge turned to look back at 6, looking him in the eye. "Bad news is, timer's fried. I'm gonna have to fire it manually."

"That's a one-way trip!", 6 replied in disbelief and shock.

"We all make it sooner or later", Jorge explained. "Listen," he said, removing his dog tags and handing them to 6, "Reach has been good to me. The time has now come to return the favor. Don't deny me this."

Jorge placed his tags into 6's hand and curled it into a fist, while picking him up. He walked towards the hangar shield doors, with 6 in his grasp. "Tell 'em to make it count", he said, and pushed 6 out of the shield door, into space. Once Jorge was sure that 6 was going to make it back to the ground, he walked back into the hangar towards the bomb.

As he floated down to Reach, Noble 6 watched with disbelief and awe as the Corvette flew up to the Supercarrier and moved into refueling position. 20 seconds later, a slipspace rift opened up from the center of the Corvette, first small, but suddenly grew, engulfing the Corvette and the entire midsection of the Supercarrier. As soon as it started, the portal closed, and the two remaining sections of the bisected Supercarrier began to crash down as well.

Meanwhile, an ionized shockwave struck a satellite that was viewing the destruction of the Supercarrier, temporarily disabling the video feed. Suddenly, Auntie Dot detected a slipspace rupture. "Gamma Station Control, reading multiple pings below the Orbital Defense Grid!", a UNSC officer reported. "Yeah, we're pickin' up anomalies too!", another personnel member announced. Auntie Dot switched to a new NAV beacon, and suddenly witnessed dozens of Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruisers coming out of slipspace. "Are you reading this?", Anchor 9's crew asked. "Does anyone have a visual?", another panicked voice questioned. "They're **everywhere**!", someone else shouted.

"Must be the whole damn Covenant fleet!"


End file.
